Unshackling apparatus



oct. 27, r1970 QHAMAJ Em 3,535,733

UNSHACKLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1968 ZSheetS-Sheet 1 InventorsJOSEPH c. HAMAJ RfcHARo J. MELLINGER Oct. 27, 1970 J. c. HAMAJ ETAI-3,535,733

n UNSHAGKLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1I-g2 31 lse Inventors JosEPH C. HAMAJ RICHARD d. MELLINGER United States Patent O3,535,733 UN SHACKLING APPARATUS Joseph C. Hamaj and Richard J.Mellinger, Chicago,

lll., assignors to St. John & Co., Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofIllinois Filed Aug. 28, 1968, Ser. No. 755,906 Int. Cl. B65g 65/00 U.S.Cl. 17-24 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention is an improvement on an abattoir apparatus suchas that described in U.S. Pat. 3,111,706. The chain-and-sleeve-typeshackles used in such equipment have means for engaging the sleeve,generally a peripheral flange at an upper portion of the sleeve. Theapparatus for releasing these self-securing shackles comprisessleeveengaging jaws and means for at least momentarily raising thesleeve-engaging jaws during their engagement with the sleeve. Suchequipment has been found to be extremely useful in conjunction with ahigh speed conveyor such as a monorail conveyor. In such commercialembodiments the releasing apparatus is frequently required to releaseshackles which secure carcasses weighing in the neighborhood of -600pounds at the rate of 600 carcasses per hour and higher. We have foundthat in prolonged use, particularly when exceptionally heavy carcassesare involved, the upward motion of jaws supported on rollers, asdescribed in the aforesaid patent, tends to cause a cranking action,i.e. a bottom roller presses against the outer wall and an upper rollerpresses against an inner wall. The result is that the jaws tend to tiltdownward. In extreme cases, sleeves have slipped through the downwardlytilting jaws with the result that the carcass is not released from theshackle. The result is that the entire conveying system must be halteduntil the missed carcass is released manually, in spite of the resultingdisruption of production. It will be appreciated that even rare failuresof the unshackling apparatus will be of significant economic importancewhen the apparatus is used in a production system involving a rate ofkill of 600I per hour or more.

Furthermore, it has been observed that at these high rates of productionthat massive cooking, twisting, and sliding forces are exerted upon theshackle release equipment. At these very high rates of production usingpositive drive conveyors, the engagement of the shackle by the jawpreferably occurs in the first 25 percent of the region on the jaws onwhich the shackle ange can slide, and the weight-bearing shackle isdragged across a portion of the jaws before the weight is released. Thiscauses exertion of great twisting or flexing forces on the overallapparatus. In addition, even the momentary exertion of the draggingforce causes exertion of considerable lateral stresses on supportingmembers of the movable frame, particularly on the axles of any ywheelsused therein. The use of wheels or rollers in the vertically movablejaw-supporting frame, in accordance with the above mentioned prior art,requires Patented Oct. 27, 1970 ice considerable machining or the use ofmachined parts in the fabrication of the shackle releasing apparatus.

One of the steps taken to ameliorate some of the undesirable attributesof the otherwise very useful and beneficial apparatus referred to aboveis the attaching or supporting of stationary frame elements thereof byconnection of these elements to the structural elements in the enclosingbuilding.

One of the advantages of the structure of this invention is not only theease of manufacture of the apparatus itself, but moreover theadaptability and versatility in terms of incorporating the apparatusinto existing conveyor systems standing in a relatively open bay.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement inwhich the movable frame which carries the shackle-engaging jaws is anintegral unit supported by a stationary frame which is rigid in avertical plane perpendicular to the direction of the conveyor, themovable frame being mounted between closely tting stationary verticalchannels xed to the stationary frame. In a preferred embodiment thestationary frame has an inverted U shape in which the cross member ofthe U rests upon, and is fixed to, the overhead structure which supportsthe conveyor track.

DESIGNATION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the improvedapparatus of this invention viewed from the direction from which theshackles are conveyed into the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the apparatus taken from the right sideof FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken approximately along the line 3-3 in FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken approximately along the line 4-4in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing major stationary frameelements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the followingdisclosure offered for public dissemination, in return for the grant ofa patent, is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this isnot intended to prejudice thatV purpose of a patent which is to covereach new inventive concept therein no matter how others may laterdisguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements.The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward thispurpose; as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out theparts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts arefound.

Chain and sleeve shackles generally 10 secure and convey carcasses 11along a monorail 12 by means of a trolley `13. Start switch 14 issecured to monorail 12 in a position in which it is thrown by passage oftrolley 13. Base plate 15 is secured to monorail 12 by welding thesecomponents together. Platform plate 16 supporting air cylinder 17 issecured to base plate 15 by bolts 18. Limit switch mechanism generally20 which operates one of the functions of control valve 21 is supportedby platform plate 16. In a vertical plane perpendicular to the directionof monorail 12 are a pair of inverted U-shaped stiffening platesgenerally 22. Stiifening plates 22 have Wide vertical legs 23 and alsowide horizontal connecting top portions 24. The U-shaped stiffeningmember can be fabricated as illustrated by welding the top portion 24 tolegs 23 along lines 30'. In the illustrated embodiment horizontal member24 is provided by the sides of an upright U-shaped framing membergenerally 31 having sides 24 and bottom 16. Welded along the entirebottom of platform member 16 along line 32 is front stiffener plate 33.Plate 33 is also provided by a U-shaped frame structure generally 34having sides 23 and cross piece 33. The preferred rigid stationary framestructure is fabricated, as illustrated in FIG. 5, from three U-shapedstructures welded together to form an overall U-shaped frame. Sides 24of U-shaped structure 31 and sides 23 of U-shaped structure 34 formfront and back U-shaped frame facing generally 22. Shelf 35 forsupporting valve 21 is welded between the tops of sides 24.

Piston rod 36 of double acting air cylinder 17 has a shoulder 37 and athreaded portion 38 near its end. Cross pieces 40 are supported onshoulder 37 and secured on the end of the piston rod by nut 41. Crosspieces 40 support tie rods 44 which pass downwardly through openings inbottom 16 of frame members 31, and are attached to the sliding frame,generally `45. At each side of the apparatus of this invention we preferto use two tie rods 44.

Integral movable frame 45 comprises two elongated vertical travelers orU-shaped channels 50 at each side thereof and top and bottom crossmembers 51 and 52 respectively. A cross member 53 also is secured tochannels 50 and a large plate 54 is welded between cross members forgreater structural stiffness and rigidity. Upward motion limit switch 20is secured to the stationary frame and switch arm 56 obstructs the pathof some portion of the movable frame. A trip lever 57 is secured t0 anupwardly moving component such as tie rod 44, to engage arm 56, and thusactivate switch 20 to reverse the direction of movement of sliding frame45.

Cross members 51, 52 and 53 of sliding frame 45 are fabricated fromangular metal with one leg of the angle laying in a plane parallel tothe general plane of the frame (i.e. vertical) and the other leg of theangle being perpendicular thereto (i.e. horizontal). They are secured tothe vertical members 50 by welding. Jaws 60 can be the horizontal leg ofthe angle which constitutes bottom cross member 52. The angles referredto above may be conventional angle stock or they may be fabricated bymaking appropriate bends in plate stock. A vertical reinforcement 61runs along the entire length of jaws 60 to increase the strength of thejaws. A stilfener plate 54 is welded to middle cross member 53 at itstop, and to the top of stiffener piece 61 at its bottom. Wear bars 62are secured to jaws 60 along the inner edge thereof. The wear bars 62are secured to jaws 60 by screws or other means (not shown) and arereplaced without removal of jaws 60.

Vertical members 50 are U-shaped channels which are movably seated instationary frame guides, or channels 70. Channels 70 are welded to thestationary frame alone line 71. Grease fittings 73 permit lubrication ofthe interface between channels 70 and 50.

By its very nature, a straight U-shaped channel, or similar structure,has a plane of bilateral symmetry. In accordance with this invention,the plane of bilateral symmetry of elongated traveler or channel 50 andguide, or channel 70 is vertical and parallel to the direction of theconveyor. The open portions of the Us in each pair either point towardeach other or away from each other.

OPERATION In operation, trolley 13 moves along monorail 12 at relativelyhigh speed and trips start switch 14 immediately prior to its entry intothe unshackling apparatus of this invention. Start switch 14 is sopositioned that by the time air cylinder 17 builds sufficient pressureto drive piston 36 in an upward direction, forcing movement of crossmembers 40 and tie rods 44 and movable frame 45 in an upward direction,sleeve portion 75 of the chain end sleeve shackle, generally 10, is inposition between opposing jaws 60. If the conveyor is positively driven,it is preferred that upwardly moving jaws 60 engage sleeve 75 when thesleeve is within the first 25 percent of wear bars 62. The details ofthe construction of sleeve 75 are provided in U.S. Pat. 3,111,706,referred to above, and do not constitute part of this invention. Asslideable carriage 45 continues to move upward, sleeve portion 75 ofsleeve and chain shackle 10 is raised upwardly with respect to chain 76thereby opening the loop of' chain 76 in which carcass 11 was previouslysecured. Carcass 11 drops, due to gravity, and the upward movement ofsliding frame 45 is stopped when trip lever 57 activates switch 56 ofswitch means 20. The moved position at the upper limit of movement ofthe jaws 60 and shackle 10 is shown by broken lines in FIG. 1.

In those embodiments in which trolley 13 is drawn through by positiveforce, its movement causes sleeve to be dragged to some extent over wearbar 62. It will be appreciated that the initial contact of the sleeve 75takes place at the entry side of the jaws 60` on wear bar 62 in a waywhich would tend to wrench the apparatus in a circular motion. As thesleeve 75 is dragged across wear bar 62, substantial forces are exertedwhich would tend to shift the entire apparatus at the level of the jawsin the direction of travel of the trolley 13. During a majority of thetime the vertical load imposed by sleeve 10` is not centered(longitudinally of rail 12) between rods 44. The initial contact inwhich jaws 60 lift sleeve 75 generates forces which would tend to pivotthe sliding frame, generally 45, and tie rods 44 outwardly, similar to apair of pendulums, around the points at which tie rods 44 are secured tocross pieces 40. This outwardly pivoting force continues to be exerteduntil the carcass 11 is released at which time the stress is suddenlyrelieved causing a reverse wrenching effect. It will be appreciated thatthe unique structure of this invention in which the movable fra-messupporting the jaws are movably mounted between channels in accordancewith this invention at either edge thereof and in which the entire framestructure, though extremely simple in construction, provides extremestructural stability in spite of the great forces repeatedly applied athigh frequency. It eliminates the downward tilting of jaws 60, and thusprovides the highest degree of dependability even at high productionlevels.

Therefore we claim:

1. In an apparatus for automatically unshackling self securing shacklesof the chain-and-sleeve-type, such shackles having an externalperipheral flange on the sleeve thereof and being movably suspended fromoverhead conveyor means, which apparatus comprises spaced jaws movablysupported from the overhead conveyor means and disposed to receive asleeve subjacent the flange thereof, said conveyor means guiding thesleeve of a shackle between said jaws, power-actuated means mounted onthe overhead conveyor means for lifting and lowering said jaws, andswitch means for activating said power-actuated means, one portion ofsaid switch means being activated by substantially-horizontal motion ofa shackle as the sleeve of a shackle is engaged by said jaws wherebysaid power-actuated means lifts said jaws, and another portion of saidswitch means being activated by terminal upward movement of said jawswhereby said upward movement is terminated and said power-actuated meanslowers said jaws, the improvement comprising: each of said jaws beingsupported on a movable frame which is rigid in the vertical planeparallel to the conveyor means, said movable frame having a pair ofvertical travelers integral therewith at the vertical edges thereof,said movable frame being supported by a stationary frame which is rigidin a vertical plane perpendicular to the direction of the conveyor meansand is rigid in a vertical plane which is parallel to the conveyormeans, said stationary frame having secured thereto a pair of verticalguide means for preventing horizontal motion of said travelers, saidguide means being in close engagement with said travelers for movablysecuring said movable frame to said stationary frame, said poweractuated means being secured to said movable frame whereby said jaws,

secured to said movable frame, are moved upwardly and downwardly by saidpower-actuated means.

2. The improvement in claim 1 in which said stationary frame is aninverted U-shaped structure, and is made up of three broad U-shapedchannel structures integrally joined together, each of said U-shapedchannel structures having a generally flat bottom plate and twogenerally at side plates which extend perpendicularly from oppositeedges in the same direction from one surface, of the bottom, a first ofsaid channels being at the top of the frame with its sides extendingupwardly and being oriented above the entrance and exit of the conveyormeans from the apparatus, the second and third broad U-shaped channelsbeing welded to the bottom of the top channel in such position that thebottoms of the second and third broad U-shaped channels define the sidewalls of the stationary frame, and the side plates of said second andthird broad U-shaped channels extend laterally away from said conveyormeans, the upper edges of the side plates of said second and third broadU-shaped channels being fixed to the bottom of the first channel wherebyall the side plates, at each side of the three broad U-shaped channelsform a large U-shaped fiat surface at the entrance side and exit side ofthe apparatus.

3. In an abattoir apparatus for conveying an animal from one location toa second location, said apparatus comprising in combination: a conveyortrained for movement along a predetermined path in a given direction,said conveyor at a first point in said path having a comparatively lowelevation and gradually increasing to a greater elevation in saiddirection from said point; a plurality of shackles each including atubular member having an engaging portion on the exterior thereof, andan elongated non-rigid member having a lower end and an upper end, theupper ends of said non-rigid members being attached at spaced intervalsto said conveyor, said non-rigid member of each shackle extending fromsaid upper end through its respective tubular member, forming a loop andbeing afiixed to said tubular member, whereby when said loop is slippedover an animals extremity at said point the upward movement of theconveyor thereafter will tighten the loop about the extremity and pickup the animal; and an unshackling device located below said conveyor ata second point along said path, said device including means to engagesaid engaging portion, power-actuated means connected to said engagingmeans to raise and lower the same, and switch means for activating saidpower-actuated means, one portion of said switch means being activatedby substantially-horizontal motion of a shackle as the sleeve of ashackle is engaged by said engaging means, whereby said power-actuatedmeans lifts said engaging means, and another portion of said switchmeans being activated by terminal upward movement of said engaging meansto terminate said upward movement and to lower said engaging means, theimprovement in which said engaging means is supported on an integralmovable frame which is rigid in the vertical plane parallel to theconveyor means, said movable frame having a first vertical U-shapedslide channel means at the vertical edges thereof said movable framebeing supported by a stationary frame which is rigid in a vertical planeperpendicular to the direction of the conveyor means as well as rigid ina vertical plane which is parallel to the conveyor means, saidstationary frame having a second vertical U-shaped slide channel meansfixed thereto in close engagement with said first U-shaped slide channelmeans for movably securing said movable frame, said power-actuated meansbeing secured to said movable frame whereby said jaws,

secured to said movable frame, are moved upwardly and downwardly by saidpower-actuated means.

4. The improvement of claim 3 in which the shackles are carried on atrolley which rides on an I-beam conveyor track and in which thestationary frame is a U- shaped structure, and is made up of three broadU-shaped channel structures integrally joined together, each of saidU-shaped channel structures having a generally flat bottom plate and twogenerally flat side plates which extend perpendicularly from oppositeedges in the same direction from one surface of the bottom, a first ofsaid channels being at the top of the frame with its sides extendingupwardly and being oriented above the entrance and exit of the conveyorfrom the apparatus, the second and third broad U-shaped channels beingwelded to the bottom of the top channel in such position that thebottoms of the second and third broad U-shaped channels define the sidewalls of the stationary frame, and the side plates of said second andthird broad Ushaped channels extend laterally away from said conveyormeans, the upper edges of the side plates of said second and third broadU- shaped channels being fixed to the bottom of the first channelwhereby all the side plates, at each side of the three broad U-shapedchannels form a large U-shaped at surface at the entrance side and exitside of the apparatus.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,317,745 10/1919 Watson et al17-24 2,846,721 8/ 1958 Schonwise 17-24 3,022,745 2/ 1962 Roberts 17-24X 3,111,706 11/1963 Kopp 17--24 LUCIE H. LAUDENSLAGER, `Primary Examiner

